Italian GP Red-Flagged after Leclerc wads up his Ferrari

The Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix was red flagged following a huge crash for Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc at Parabolica.

Leclerc lost the rear of his car and impacted the barrier on the outside of the turn – his #16 Ferrari thoroughly wadded up.

Leclerc was unhurt.

Before the red-flag flew Lewis Hamilton pitted when the pits were closed (to remove Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas) and the six-time world champion had to serve a 10-second stop/go penalty on the race restart.

Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi made the same mistake as Hamilton and received the same penalty.

“It’s very difficult for us at the moment for sure, for the whole team,” Vettel said once he was out of the car after his car had a total brake failure. “Mega frustrating, obviously. I don’t know what to say. You’re not even in the car, you don’t have a chance to do anything, so obviously a tough day.

“Obviously if I could choose then I don’t want to be here [conducting interviews] I want to be in the car on the track right now – and not in the back of the field but in the front, but sometimes you don’t get to choose.”

Vettel is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, meaning this was his last Monza race as a Scuderia driver – and he admitted it was probably a good thing the passionate tifosi were not present at the track to witness the poor showing by the team.

“Tough times are part of life and part of sports but at the moment I think it’s not fair to all the guys that put so much effort in, that we are that bad,” he said. “But on the other hand it’s a testimony of where we stand and it’s poor obviously where we are, especially here for our home race – I think it’s probably a blessing that there’s nobody in the stands.”